Dyepot, Teapot

After I talked about the importance of writing roles while you’re still a 1-2 person shop, I made a list based on the work we’ve done on Yog’s Notebook so far. It looked something like this:

• Editor
  • acquisitions editor
  • copy editor
  • proofreader
  • developmental editor
  • layout designer
  • web designer
• Publisher
  • bookkeeper
  • business manager (HR, financial planning?)
  • sales
  • customer service
  • marketing
• Content
  • writer
  • graphical designer/illustrator
  • contributing editor

When I came back to it a week or so later, I felt like it still didn’t really do enough to describe the work, in a way that would be helpful in assigning portions to someone else. So then I listed every activity I could think of that we’ve done so far. Combined with the labels above, I have this:

• Editor
  • lead editor: send publication to printer
  • acquisitions editor: read submissions, select submissions for each issue, sign contract for writer’s copy (and ours), respond to submission queries, send rejections for work not selected
  • copy editor: check content for spelling, grammar, and conformance to style guidelines
  • proofreader: verify that all content is represented on the page as intended
  • developmental editor: discuss story changes with writers
  • layout designer: lay out the publication, create cover design
  • web designer: create website, set up domain name and web hosting
• Publisher
  • bookkeeper: record expenses, record sales
  • business manager: write/create a contract, send contracts for selected work, pay writers, file contracts somewhere retrievable, file receipts, buy office supplies (envelopes, labels, etc), get quotes from printers, create financial analyses
  • sales: send announcements of new issue, set up PayPal for purchasing copies, contact stores about stocking our publication
  • fulfillment: package purchased copies for mailing, mail copies of zine to purchasers, email PDFs to purchasers
  • customer service
  • marketing: print promotional materials (stickers), plan release party
• Content
  • writer
  • graphical designer/illustrator: create graphics for web, publication, merchandise
  • contributing editor: write editorial content

I’m sure this is incomplete, and that there are other (better?) ways to organize the tasks and roles, but it’s a start, and it was interesting for me to see how many different kinds of things were involved in getting that first issue out. If anyone who has submitted work to us (or any other small publication) is reading this, I hope it helps explain why it can take a little while to hear back; we have so many other jobs to do at the same time.

I think the next step would be to look at what roles could be handed off to other people (or outsourced to another company) but right now we don’t have the resources. Still, I’m glad to have some idea of where I would start.

Now that I’m halfway through my first full week of not having a day job, I’m starting to notice a couple of problems. I have this huge list of things I could be working on, some of it even income generating, and none of it automatically gives any organization to my day. I can work on anything I want! Which means I can also spend all day reading blogs and accomplishing nil.

And since I’m a complete dork, I decided the solution to this was to make a little checklist of things I should be working on a regular basis, so I can see whether I’m getting anywhere.

Most of this should be self-explanatory. I put fruits and vegetables on there because it’s something I don’t automatically remember to eat (vegetarian != only eats vegetables). The secret projects aren’t really, but it’s more fun that way. Personal online presence is shorthand for doing something to keep my website up to date and generally be visible online.

Most of my plans to track what I’ve been doing last about a week, so it’ll be a little while until I know if this works. Worth a try, right?

I was reading through the hundred dollar business yesterday, and I spotted an interesting bit of advice on starting a business and organizational roles.

It caught my attention because employee roles were one of the big issues we struggled with during my ~5 months at PA, and I am always eager to avoid hitting the same problem a second time. So: Rob Merrill said

At the earliest stages, while you’re still fresh in the “entrepreneurial seizure“, you need to determine what the mandatory roles in the business are. In a startup, of course, there is no room for bureaucracy or drag of any kind. 100% of the resources need to be maxed to 100% or more. Vanity is death, though entrepreneurs by nature are often susceptible to vanity of some-kind or another. Beware! However, you need to reach out into the future to predict how the different “legs” of the organization are going to grow.

Take each group or functional area of the company and work on each “leg” planning out the infrastructure. Physically DRAW these out on an organizational chart.

For now, you (yourself) may occupy all or many of the roles in the org-chart. No problem. What’s important is that you know what’s next in line and, while you’re doing the shipping clerk’s job, you’ll be working hard to be sure that, when you do hire a clerk, you will have a system in place to ensure that you don’t spend all your time training them–and that the level of service you expect will still be achieved.

I’m going to try this as a planning exercise for Yog’s Notebook. It’s still a (very) open question if and how much the zine will grow, but as I’ve been looking at the possibilities, I’ve become more concerned with making sure I don’t write myself into a corner. I want to make sure it can succeed at whatever size turns out to fit best.

A few thoughts on picking the right structure for the activity:

I’m not pro- or anti-hierarchy. I think there are times when hierarchical group structures make sense, and times when collaborative/flattened structures are better. I’ve been noticing that groups struggle a lot with this issue (particularly groups that want to keep an open structure, like RCC or BarCamp). So here are some things to consider:

1. Smaller groups are more agile. Dilbert has covered that in detail (it’s funny because it’s true). The more people in on a decision, the longer it will take. Including more people does not guarantee that everyone’s views are considered appropriately, either, because not all people are assertive in large conversations.
2. If something has to get done, then one or two people need to be responsible for monitoring it. I’ve been in too many situations where people assume that “the group” will be able to make sure that all the important details are covered. Sorry, but this doesn’t actually work. It’s like organizing a potluck: you’ll end up with three kinds of jello salad, brownies, and five bottles of cheap wine. This may or may not be the dinner anyone wanted to eat.
3. Planning committees and other active sub-groups do not have to be permanent, unchanging structures. Maybe right now you need a couple of people to scout out locations or call sponsors and report back. Later you’ll need people to clean up, but it might be enough to announce that at the start of the event and post a sign-up sheet. Be flexible. Don’t turn it into some kind of clique or cabal.
4. Also related: not everyone has to participate at the same level. Some people will want to be involved in every aspect of planning. Some people just want to show up. There are many levels in between. Keep this in mind as you sort out what work needs to be done.
5. If the larger group involved can come to a consensus on the goals of the activity, you’ll be able to act in a much more focused way. Use the goals as a boundary line to ask “Is this inside or outside of the thing we want to do?”
6. The more hierarchical and specialized the group structure, the clearer your guidelines for communication need to be. This is also true of urgent issues or those that have a strong impact on people’s lives. Maybe you have three people researching code management and bug tracking systems, and they can give a summary at the big group meeting next month. Maybe you’re involved in disaster planning, which has very strict guidelines for organization and communication. Ask: “Who needs this information? How frequently do they need updates in order to do their job (and to feel in the loop)? Who should be giving feedback?”
7. Give people just walking in a handle on the activity. It needs to be easy to figure out what things can be done next, or who has the first aid kit, or who will be planning the marketing effort. If the newcomer can’t walk in, find something to do, and figure out who to ask more specific questions, they won’t stick around.

This is phrased in terms of a group planning a single event, but I think the same considerations are important to a lot of different activities. Think about how this affects your company or department at work. Or your user group. Or your parents’ 50th wedding anniversary party. The basic principles are the same any time you have a group of people and something you want to do.